We were asked to take our 6.5m x 5.5m interactive model of Cardiff up to London for an event that coincided with the London Marathon. As it happened, the venue was very close to the finishing line in Pall Mall which caused all sorts of problems with access for unloading and setting up the model. With some detailed advanced preparations, including advising the police that two white vans and a six man team would be arriving in the area, we were able to overcome all the issues and ensure the model was on site looking its best for the event. Our well-travelled model has been to many different venues including three trips to London and one to Cannes.

We’re just recovering from transporting our 6.5m x 5.5m interactive model of Cardiff all the way to Cannes and back for the Mipim 2015 property marketing event. We had to pack the model up in two large vans, drive for 2 days to Cannes via Eurotunnel, set the model up, hang around Cannes for 3 days (it wasn’t all hard work) and then do the whole process in reverse, getting the model reinstalled in its marketing suite in Cardiff for a VIP event last week. Fortunately the model was specially designed so that it could be taken apart and transported to different locations as this was a major requirement in our original brief. So far it’s been to Cannes this year, London Mipim last October, and a couple of local venues earlier last year. No doubt we’ll be off on our travels again soon – watch this space.

By all accounts, our 6.5m x 5.5m interactive model of Cardiff stole the show at Olympia during London’s inaugural MIPIM global property conference last week. Our team set it up on Tuesday for the 3 day event and then dismantled it on Friday evening, bringing it back to Cardiff (in two vans) where it is shortly going to set up in a permanent marketing suite. Once the model is in its new home it will be used to promote the city of Cardiff to national and international investors. It is a fully interactive model controlled via a large touchscreen which activates over 30 different lighting zones on the model and at the same time displays relevant information pages on the touchscreen. The screen images will also be projected onto a giant screen so that the information is visible to all.

This unusual industrial model was a real challenge on two fronts – firstly because of the very complex shaped components involved but also because of the requirement for a very specific interactive element. The thruster comprises a large propeller that forces water downwards through a deflector that can be rotated through 360 degrees to direct the water thrust in any direction. This is the USP of the client’s product and, as such, he wanted the model to incorporate a rotating propeller (with speed control) and a movable deflector (clockwise and anti-clockwise) at 6rpm. We also had to work out how to mount the model in a cut-away view of a ship’s bows and create a cut-away view of the thruster to show the main working components. The model was recently shipped in a large flight case to a trade event in Germany – one of the inset images shows it on their stand.

After being centre of attention at the football Stadium event, our Cardiff City model is now on temporary display within the County Hall offices in Cardiff Bay. As you can see from the images it’s a much more low-key venue but we’re told it does get a regular stream of visitors, from politicians and potential inward investors right through to police officers from other cities who use the model to help with crowd control planning for visiting football supporters (sadly not from premiership teams this year!). It’s going to be in County Hall for a few more weeks before moving to its permanent venue in the new Library (opposite John Lewis) where it will be open to the general public. Since the stadium event we’ve added a few tweaks and improvements to the model itself and to the interactive element including a new “All lights on” button which lights up all 36 of the model’s lighting zones at the same time.